Not In This Alone
by Runs with Werewolfs
Summary: When Logan's wife dies, his friends step in to help him raise his children. LOOSELY based on Full House. eventual Lamille and CarlosKatie, with Logan x Jo and JamesOC/KendallOC. James is the main charactr!


**Not in this Alone**

In This, James and Jo are brother and siste.r It's explained in the story.

Their ages:

James: 29  
Logan: 29  
Carlos: 28  
Kendall: 30  
Camille: 27  
Lilly: 25  
Katie: 24

Pairings will be  
LoganxJo, but Jo is deceased  
James x OC (Lilly)  
Carlos x Katie  
Logan x Camille  
Kendall x OC (tba)

The kids:  
Serena "Rena" Mitchell: 11, Logan's eldest daughter  
Jesse "Jess" Mitchell: 9, Logan's only son  
Melissa "Lissie" Mitchell: 7: Logan's second eldest daughter  
Tara Mitchell: 4 Logan's third daughter  
Hannah "NawNaw" Mitchell- 1- Logan's youngest child

Other children will be introduced later

* * *

Chapter 1: In The Wake of a Disaster

_"For the love of God!" _James Diamond groaned as his phone rang, his best friend Kendall's ring tone. "Dammit Kendall, 4:30 AM, too damn early for this" he mumbled, reaching for the phone. Grabbing it off his nightstand, he flipped it open, and sat up. "What do you want, Kendall?" he barked into the phone. "Are you aware that it's 4:26 AM…as in the morning? It's still dark outside!"

Kendall's voice was gaspy, broken. "James, shut up, please." He begged. "You need to come over to Logan and J-Jo's house, right now" he said, strained. In the background, James could hear crying. He assumed it was Hannah, his sister and brother in law's youngest daughter, who was almost 1.

"Why, can't handle Hannah?" James smirked, he'd told Kendall Hannah was a handful. Kendall had offered to babysit the kids so Logan and Jo could go out and have fun, party. They'd married at the ages of 18 and 19, almost 10 years ago, and had already had Serena, the eldest, so by all means, they were worn out. It occurred to James that Logan and Jo should have been home earlier, even though Kendall had told them to rent a hotel if they wanted to. Kendall and Logan were basically brother's, and Kendall loved James's nieces and nephews just as much as James did.

"James" Kendall pleaded. "Please" and then more crying sounded, this time sounding like the fourth of the guys, Carlos. But Carlos wasn't there, James had been at his sister's house

Suddenly, he heard the phone moving and then Camille Roger's, Jo's best friend's voice. "James, it's bad news" she sobbed. James rolled his eyes, Camille was overly dramatic at times. "Jo and Logan were in a car accident" she said, sounding like she was holding back tears.

"What?" James shot out of bed. "Are they okay?"

Camille began sobbing and the phone was passed off again, this time, to Carlos. "James, they aren't okay. - Jo-James, I can't tell you. I can't say it"

James grabbed a jacket and his pants off the floor of his bedroom. Slipping on a pair of slip on sneakers, he left the room, fearing the worse. "It's okay, I'll be there in five minutes and then you can tell me" he said.

He jumped into the car and drove to his sister's house, praying that everything was okay, running at least one red light. He pulled into the long driveway behind Kendall's truck, seeing Carlos's car and Camille's little VW Bug parked on the street. He jumped out of his car and barreled up the steps of the house. He threw the door open and stepped inside.

Camille was sitting on the couch, hands in her face. Carlos was standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, holding onto Hannah, who was sound asleep. Kendall was sitting next to Camille, staring off into space.

"What's going on?" James asked.

Suddenly, Camille was in his arms, sobbing her eyes out into his chest. He bit his lip and hugged her, not sure what to make of her crying. He looked at Kendall, who was biting his lip. James glanced around. "Is Jo okay?"

Kendall shook his head. "She- she didn't make it" he said sadly. "She died on impact" Kendall said.

James leaned back against the door. He felt like he'd been crushed by a ton of breaks right then. His sister- his little sister- was _dead_. Lying in a hospital morgue, most likely. Alone, probably. And he couldn't imagine the pain Logan was in right now. To loose the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, James couldn't even imagine- but was Logan even okay Fighting the urge to break down into tears, feeling numb, and shocked, he looked at the other two "Logan?" he rasped, tightening his hold on Camille.

"Logan's pretty much fine." Carlos said hoarsely. "He was on the opposite side of the impact and he just hit his head and broke his leg" Carlos said.

"How did you guys find out?" James asked, wondering why he didn't get called.

"They couldn't get a hold of you, the sheriff couldn't, so they sent someone here" Kendall explained. "I'd just got Tara back in bed, about an hour and a half ago, and they said they'd been calling you two hours, but you didn't respond. They were calling your landline"

"I don't have a landline anymore"

"Logan didn't have your cell in his phone, he has it memorized, and Jo's phone was here, so they couldn't get a hold of you" Kendall explained. "They didn't ask Logan because they had to sedate him because he was freaking out and going to hurt himself even more"

James nodded. "Do the girls and Jesse know?"

Carlos shook his head. "We were hoping you'd tell them, since you're their uncle and all. Kendall and I were going to go sit with Logan, they'll probably release him at noon, according to the sheriff, but we didn't want to leave Camille to tell the kids when they woke up."

James nodded again, eyes burning. "Okay." He nodded. "Go, I'll figure out how to tell them. God, how do you tell five kids that their mom just died? Don't let them do anything with her body, guys, until I can say goodbye" he added. He had to hold his sister one last time, even if she was barely recognizable to him. He had to say goodbye.

* * *

Upstairs, feet could be heard pounding. Kendall and Carlos had left for the hospital 2 hours ago, it was now 6 am. Camille was asleep on the couch. James was sitting in Jo's chair, the one she sat in to read to the kids, or just think. It smelled like her perfume and shampoo and it felt good. It made him feel closer to her, like she was with him. It was a small comfort in the sea of misery he was currently wallowing in. It was numbing, the loss of his little sister, the girl he'd sworn to his dad before his dad left to fight in the war that he'd protect. His dad had died in the Iraq war, back when James was 16 and Jo was almost 15. James had promised his dad before he left that he'd always make sure his sister was okay, a promise he'd held in his heart since his dad had adopted Jo when she was 4, but a promise that had been a driving factor in James's life since his dad had died. Even when Jo and Logan had gotten married, James had protected his sister, from everything.

James's dad was a single dad, his wife having died when James was 6 weeks old in a fire. His dad didn't want James to grow up alone with no siblings, so he had adopted Jo, his best friend Mark Taylor's daughter, when Mark and his wife had died in a car accident. Ironic, indeed, that their daughter, would die in a car accident. James's other two siblings, who were now 23 and 25, Kayla and Riley, lived out of state. James was dreading the call he'd have to make in the near future. His Brother, Riley, would probably be heart broken, and Kayla would be guilty, since she and Jo didn't get along well and hadn't spoken in a year.

"Mom, Dad?" Rena's voice sounded from the top of the stairs. "Uncle Kendall?" she sounded concerned. "We have to be at school in an hour and half!" she announced, coming down the stairs. She turned into the living room and stopped. "Uncle James? Why are you here?"

"Serena, please go sit in the family room, and tell the others to join you" James said gravely.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, sweetie" James said. "Please, go get them and come down here"

Rena nodded and ran back up the stairs. James knelt down by the couch and shook Camille awake. "Should we go this, Cam?" he asked as she sat up.

"The kids are up?" she clarified.

"Yes" James said. "Camille, I really don't want to tell them, I don't want to see their hearts break. Can you take Tara out, please, she's not going to understand, and tell her Mommy went to Heaven, please? I don't know if Melissa will even understand"

"Okay" Camille said. "Lissie will, she's a smart cookie"

Camille stood up, just as Jesse, the only boy in the family, ran down stairs into the family room, followed by his little sister, Melissa. Rena followed, looking at James and Camille curiously. "Tara!" Camille called as the little girl tottled past. "Let's go get cookies in the kitchen!"

Tara turned on her heels and teetered over to Camille. "Hold me, Aunt Milly?" she asked. Camille grinned and knelt down, lifting up the little girl. Tara nicknamed everyone. "Hi Uncle Pwetty-boy!" she grinned, waving at James. Logan had called James "Pretty Boy" once, not realizing the three year old Tara was in the room, and now, Tara called James "Uncle Pwetty" or "Uncle Pwetty Boy"

"Hey Tara" James smiled and leaned over, kissing the top of the little girls head. She giggled in delight, and then James sighed. "Okay, off to go spread the gloom" he said sadly, walking into the family room.

Rena looked up. "You look sad, Uncle James. Did you and Aunt Lilly break up?" she asked.

_Crap! Lilly, I left her alone at the apartment. _"No, sweetie, nothing like that. It's worse actually." James said, sitting down between Rena and Melissa, pulling Melissa into his lap. He motioned for Jesse to scoot closer. "Guys, I hate to have to tell you this, but you know how your mom and dad went out last night?"

"Yeah?"

"Daddy said they were going to a fancy restaurant!" Jesse said happily.

"I think they kissed!" Melissa finished.

James smiled. "Sure. Well, guys, last night, on their way home, they were in a car accident" he said.

Rena's eyes shot open, and Jesse's smile sank. Melissa just blinked. "Oh my god, are they okay?" Rena asked.

"Your dad is fine."

"What about Mommy?" Melissa asked.

James shook his head. "She-she didn't make it. She-"

"Died?" Rena asked, face screwing up. James nodded.

"Yeah" he choked out. Rena buried her face into her shoulder, and Jesse buried his face in his hands. Melissa blinked and then buried her face into James's neck, sobbing. James buried his face into Rena's brown hair, holding the three kids close. The four sat there a while crying, until Tara came skipping in.

"Mommy's on a 'cation to see Jesus!" Tara announced. "Why crying?" she asked, confused. "Don't ca-ry Rena and Lissie and Jess! Mommy visiting with Jesus. Why crying?" she put her hands on her hips, a move that was so classic _Jo _that it made James want to cry. Tara was literally Jo as a child, from the big brown eyes to the long blonde hair, to the smile, and to the eyebrows. The one thing she had from Logan was his nose, which was currently wrinkled, in confusion and annoyance.

"Because they're sad they'll never see Mommy again" Camille explained.

"Mommy not coming back?"

"No, baby" James said shakily. Melissa crawled off his lap and collapsed into her brother's shoulder, desperate to find comfort. Rena stood up, heading for a hug from Camille, and Tara crawled into James's lap, her thumb jammed in her mouth. She stared at him with those big brown eyes. Jo had looked at him with those brown eyes for her whole life- last night, in fact, when he'd come to visit before they'd left, she'd hugged him and stared up at him with those eyes. He glanced around the room, surveying all four kids. Hannah was upstairs, asleep, and would never know her mother. Rena was standing, holding onto Camille as if her life depended on it- she had Jo's smile. Jesse was sitting next to him, holding his little sister like James used to hold Jo. He had Jo's eyes, just like Tara. Melissa, sobbing into her brother's neck, had the same personality as her mother, and the same nose, a nose James had always found adorable. And little Hannah, upstairs, with Jo's laugh and facial similarities.

These kids would be the only real thing that James had left of his baby sister. and since he'd been unable to protect Jo from an early, and completely avoidable, death, well, he'd just have to carryout his promise to his dad by protecting her children. Logan would never be a single parent because James was never going to abandon his family.

* * *

Logan Mitchell had never felt pain quite like this before in his life. His whole body hurt, something he knew was whiplash. Before he'd become a medic at the lot, he'd been a doctor, a real one, and he'd seen this countless times. He had a broken leg, which he could deal with, and a slight concussion, along with cuts from shattered glass. All the injuries, he could deal with. It was the loss he couldn't comprehend.

"Logan. I'm sorry, Jo died- on impact" Kendall's words rung through Logan's head like gunshots, and his heart felt like it may have been shot. His soulmate, the girl he'd loved since high school, the girl he wanted to be with forever- the girl he'd been in love with since 2nd grade- was dead. Laying on a metal table in a morgue. It was almost too much to bear.

He hadn't known until just now, that she was gone. He couldn't have known, he'd been unconscious until 20 minutes ago. But now- it was unfathomable. His wife was dead. The mother of his children was dead. His children!

"What about the kids?" Logan asked, numb. He thought they had him on some pain killer that made emotions nonexistent, because he couldn't cry.

"James and Camille have them. James is bringing the older ones here to be with you, Tara and Hannah are staying with Camille, and Katie when she gets here" Carlos explained. "James wants to hold Jo one last time, he said." Logan could tell by Carlos's expression that the latino man didn't understand why James would want to hold his sister's body, but Logan knew exactly how James felt, because he felt the same way about his wife. One last chance to hold her would be heaven and earth to Logan and until he got that, he wouldn't be able to have any closure.

Kendall, who was texting, probably his mom or Katie, looked up. "I'm sorry, Logan. Jo was amazing, it's awful that she-you know"

Logan nodded. "Right now, it's numb for me, but I'm gonna need you guys when I'm not on meds and it really hits that she's gone. Right now, I need my kids" He said. None of his friends understood. Kendall was 30, and divorced, and had no kids, Carlos, 28, was single, and James, 29, was seeing Melissa's best friend's mother, a woman known to Logan's kids as Aunt Lilly. But none of his friends had kids of their own, and thus- none of them understood, really, how much Logan needed his pack of munchkins right then. "all of them, Hannah and Tara too" he said.

Kendall nodded. "Okay. You'll be getting out in a few hours, I'll tell Camille to bring them then." Kendall said. "James left with the three older ones about 10 minutes ago, so he'll be here soon" Kendall explained.

Soon enough, Logan found himself in a dog pile underneath his three eldest. Melissa was sobbing, Jesse was unusually cuddly and Rena, he could tell, was trying to be strong. "Where's Uncle James?" Logan asked.

Rena sighed. "He went to see Mom and then he'll be up"

"Do you guys want to say goodbye now if you can?" Logan asked. He didn't want his kids to regret anything, but he didn't know if they'd be allowed in the morgue.

Jesse shook his head "I'd be scared" he said.

Melissa, too, shook her head. "Me too"

Rena nodded. "I'd be scared too, and I don't want my last memory of her to be like that." She said.

Logan nodded. "Okay, if you change your minds, though, before I go down, you're more than welcome to go with me"

"I won't" Jesse said, snuggling into Logan's side. Logan wrapped his arm, which was covered in bandages, around his son. Melissa was lying on his chest, holding onto his neck. Rena was sitting next to him, absently running her hands through his hair and holding his other hand.

"I think it's different for you and James" Carlos mused. "I mean, you're adults and you need the closure. Kendall and I don't need that, we're not her family the way you two are."

"Camille's gonna need it" Kendall mused. "She and Jo have been best friends since they were five, poor girl. I thought I was going to need carry her in. She got to the edge of the walk and collapsed."

Logan sighed. "This is the worst thinkable thing that could have ever happened" he said. "I just wish I could cry."

"Why can't you cry, daddy?" Melissa asked, innocent eyes staring up at her father.

"They have me on a medication that makes me unable to, sweetie" Logan explained. "How do you guys feel?" he asked.

"I'm sad" Melissa said. "I told Mommy she was a meanie last week."

"I yelled at Mommy yesterday" Jesse admitted, eyes watering up. Logan sighed.

Rena thought for a minute. "I fought with her too, but guys, she knew we loved her." She offered. "She knew we were going to be hard on her sometimes, even though we shouldn't have been" she said.

Logan sighed. "You're right, Rena. She knew you loved her"

Because the one thing Logan could remember clearly was that the last thing Jo had screamed, right before the impact was "My babies!"

* * *

James stumbled into Logan's room about 20 minutes later, shaking. Wordlessly, he grabbed Kendall by the back of his collar and dragged him out of the room. "James" Kendall said sadly, watching the tears fall down his best friend's face. Being a big brother himself, he could relate to the pain James was feeling. Back when his sister, Katie, was 16 and he was 22, Katie had gotten cancer. Kendall prepared himself for the day he had to find her dead body, or watch her die. It had never came for Kendall, Katie had miraculously gotten better and had been perfectly fine ever since, but there was a part of Kendall that dreaded the day he got a call from his mom, saying that it was back. He prayed it would never come. But he knew James was in pain, and it wasn't just emotional turmoil his best friend was in. There was physical pain right along with it.

James leaned against the wall, face in his hands. "She-Kendall- I thought she was sleeping, when I saw her. But her eyes were open. I told them to close them before Logan came down. It was _awful."_

"What do you mean?"

"They were just staring into space, no life, no spark. Dead." James shook his head, tears running down his face. "The guy let me pick her up, and hold her. It didn't feel right, it wasn't her. But I had to, I had to hug her one last night, talk to her. Everyone left the room, let me talk to her."

Kendall watched James sink down to the ground, and then joined him, putting an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "Do you want- or need- to tell me what you said?" he asked, curious.

"I promised to take care of Logan and the kids." James said. "I told her how much I loved her, and how I'd make sure the girls grew up knowing how to do things that I only know because I had two little sisters, like how to curl their hair. That I'd make sure they remembered her, and that Logan kept it together. That I'd protect them. And then I just talked to her for a while, told her everything- everything I didn't say."

"I bet she would have cried" Kendall smiled.

"Kendall, it was torture to see my little sister, dead" James said sadly, standing up. "I have to see Logan" he muttered. He walked into Logan's room again, followed by Kendall, who put a supportive hand on his back.

Logan looked up at him. "Hey"

"We're still brothers" James said. "We're still brothers. Jo not being here doesn't make us any less brothers" he said.

Logan eyes watered, but he still couldn't cry. "If they didn't have me pumped full of antidepressants, I'd be crying." He said.

James sighed. "You're gonna be wanting those antidepressants when you go down there" he said.

Logan nodded. "I know"

James stopped for a minute and then spoke up again. "I'm moving in with you guys" he announced.

"What?" Logan sounded shocked. Behind James, Kendall and Carlos exchanged glances. The three kids looked up hopefully.

"Logan, there's no way in hell you can raise five kids alone. I'm moving in with you" James said. "I thought about earlier, and I don't have my own place right now, I'm living with Lilly until I find a place, but it's a one bedroom apartment and I sleep on the couch" he said. "I love my nieces and nephew, and I'm helping"

Logan sighed. "Where will you sleep at my house?"

Melissa and Rena exchanged glances. "Melissa and I can share a room, and the little girls can, so there would be two free rooms" Rena offered. "and there's the basement, and the attic too" she said.

Melissa nodded. "We could make the basement or the attic into a house!"

"an apartment!" Rena said. "Daddy, it's a great idea"

Kendall and Carlos exchanged glances. "How about you convert both?" Kendall suggested. "Because I can't see the two of you raising five kids either, you're gonna need me and Carlos"

"Guys!" Logan shook his head. "Do you know how high the bills would get?"

"Do you know how much I made playing for the Wild?" Kendall responded.

"Do you KNOW how much I make a year?" Carlos, who was a graphic designer, responded. "and not to mention Mr. News Anchor over there" he pointed at James.

"Guys, this is crazy" Logan muttered.

"No, it's not, It'll be like Full House. Only there's no John Stamos"

"You know, Jo liked the name Jesse because of Full House-" Logan began.

James cut him off. "It's perfect. The three of us can work, and Kendall's retired from the Wild, he can stay home and take care of the kids, and I'll get home at noon, so if Kendall wants to get a part time job, even, someone would always be home. You could go back to hospital shifts because you'd have three people living here. And Camille's gonna be around!"

"You thought this through" Logan mumbled.

"We talked about it, all that texting was us figuring out how it could work" Carlos explained. "We were just gonna do a shift, where one of us spent the night each night, but then when we were in the waiting room, Full House came on and Kendall and I are brilliant! You bought that house for the attic and basement. James could take a room if the girls share, or we can share rooms!"

"You're going to pester me until I agree" Logan muttered. His kids were making puppy dog faces at him, and Carlos was using his own puppy dog face. Kendall's eyes were the size of saucers, and James was pouting and blinking rapidly.

"Yup!"

"Fine then" Logan agreed. "For now, you'll have to share two of the rooms, but we'll renovate- and you three are pairing"

"Wait, didn't I mention?" James asked brightly. "Camille wants to move in too, and she'd be good for the girls!"

"She's the last person!" Logan said, raising his eyebrows. "AND, James, when you and Lilly are getting friendly, get friendly at her house. Carlos, Kendall, no dates, especially not in plain sight where my kids can see and Camille is off limits for flirting and romantic interaction"

"Fine"

James would do anything to make sure that his nieces and nephews were okay in the end.

* * *

A/N: I swear to God, that this is the last new story I'll publish the next 3-4 chapts will be dealing with the direct aftermath, and then I'll write one-shot requests, ranging from about 6 months after the end of the funeral chapter, to 18-20 years later. So after chapter 3, you can make requests!

And yes, this is taken from Full House, but only the general idea, maybe some plots, and the idea of having James is the main character rather than Logan. (James is the Jesse to Logan's Danny, while Kendall and Carlos are taking the role of Joey, with Kendall and James semi-sharing Jesse as well, likewise, the three older girls are based off the girls) I love that show and I was talking to Kattarina about how Carlos Pena would be a dad like Danny, the germaphobe and then this happened…

So how did you like it? 


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